I Had Not Thought Death Had Undone So Many
by Kalcifier
Summary: Maki knew that the Necronomicon was a trap. She'd killed more than enough people to know that there was no way to bring them back. It wouldn't be the first impossible thing you've seen at this school, a treacherous part of her brain thought.
1. Chapter 1

I beat this game recently, and it was pretty much inevitable that I'd come out of it with at least one all-but-nonexistent f/f pair. And these two fit my type so well, two girls who are stoic in different ways and yet have such similar motivations. I only hope that I can do them justice.

Title is from TS Eliot's "The Waste Land", because I get even more pretentious when I am tired.

* * *

She'd only picked the Necronomicon up for the investigation. The page she and Shuichi had read seemed to have all the information about the ritual, but Maki half expected Monokuma to make them debate some minor detail on the last page. It was better to be prepared.

Not that it mattered, in the end. The only details that ended up being relevant were ones Shuichi had committed to memory. By the time the execution began, she was too disgusted to spare a second thought for a supposed magic book.

She only remembered it when she got back to her room and discovered it still in her pocket. She dropped it on the coffee table unceremoniously. It had served its purpose, so with any luck Monokuma would take it away and they could stop worrying about it. It's not like it could have worked anyway.

She might have succeeded in putting it out of her mind if she hadn't woken up and found it exactly where she'd left it. Its cover gleamed innocently.

She ignored it and got dressed for breakfast. They'd survived another trial, so today they'd have to explore the school yet again. She wasn't going to let something as ridiculous as this distract her. She'd killed more than enough people to know that there was no way to bring them back.

 _It wouldn't be the first impossible thing you've seen at this school_ , a treacherous part of her brain thought.

Maki did as she was trained and squashed any glimmer of hope before it could become a liability. All she could do was keep moving forward, and try to put the dead behind her.

Their investigation went about as she'd expected. They found a few more research labs, Shuichi found another Flashback Light, they learned even more confusing details about their pasts that didn't seem to connect to any of what they'd already known. Maki didn't spend any amount of time thinking about who she'd want to revive. It seemed cruel, that her only chance to bring someone back would have to be wasted on someone she barely knew.

Not that it would work. It wouldn't have been worth resurrecting any of the students who'd died anyway. They'd all just be targets, either for having proven their weakness or for fear they'd kill again. Having them around would just be tempting fate.

Not that it mattered, because it was impossible.

She shook her head to clear her mind. It was time to go "train" with Kaito and Shuichi.

She'd meant for it to be a distraction, the physical activity and her classmates' constant chatter keeping her in the present. Instead, Kaito had to be an idiot and leave when they'd barely begun. Shuichi on his own was a terrible distraction. He was always caught up in the past and his own head himself.

Maybe she could blame that for what she did next. "Did you… like Kaede?" she asked. She knew as soon as the words left her mouth that she'd revealed too much. She didn't understand her own feelings, most of the time, but Shuichi would see right through her and then she would pay.

She realized with a pang of regret that driving Shuichi away would hurt more than she'd expected. He should never have let Kaito drag her into this. She'd be fine proving her trustworthiness from a distance.

But Shuichi didn't pry. He didn't need to. Maki just kept blabbering, laying out her own confusion under the guise of clarifying the question. She hadn't known any of her classmates for very long. Liking someone under these circumstances was weird. There was no reason to be thinking about it.

In the end, all she succeeded in doing was confusing Shuichi as well. She was thoroughly grateful when Kaito returned and cut off the awkward conversation. With him there, she could finally think about something other than the Necronomicon and the impossible things she still wanted, at least for a few minutes.

Her respite lasted until she got back to her room and saw the book staring at her. That's when she made up her mind, or maybe she admitted that her mind had been made up for a while.

Crafting an effigy from only the things in her room wasn't easy, but she wasn't willing to risk anyone seeing her gathering incriminating materials. The Necronomicon claimed the effigy's appearance didn't matter. She'd have to count on that, since her final product barely even looked like a person. She certainly didn't want to sink too much time into such a futile endeavor.

She grabbed a Post-It note from her desk to use as a label and called it good.

She went over the Necronomicon's instructions one last time, memorizing them like they were the escape route for her next job. Then she burned it. There was something satisfying about destroying the thing that had caused so much trouble.

She sprinkled the ashes over her effigy with care. Her heart was pounding, though she didn't know why. It wasn't like she'd had any hopes to get up in the first place. She was very careful about that.

Now all that was left was to close her eyes and chant. She didn't enjoy making herself vulnerable like this, even in her own locked room in the middle of the night. Her whole body was tense and ready to strike. She began to speak, her voice soft enough to listen past it for any sign that the ritual was working.

Saying someone's name three times took no time at all. She was done before she could talk herself into stopping. She strained her ears, ignoring the sound of her racing heartbeat as best she could, but the room was deathly silent. There was no sign that she'd done anything but fall into Monokuma's trap.

She was about to admit defeat when something touched her back. Her eyes flew open, her hand reaching for her knife instinctively as she whirled to face her attacker.

There was no one there. She glanced first at the ceiling, then into her closet, but she was still alone.

She turned back to the coffee table, ready to clear away the evidence of her weakness. That's when she noticed the body on her floor.

It was scarcely recognizable, its clothing tattered enough to expose wounds that had barely healed over. It wasn't until it struggled to its feet that Maki could believe what she was seeing.

Kirumi's expression was wild, as feral as it had been in her final moments. Even so, she held herself with dignity and grace, or as much as she could manage with how badly she was shaking. As she took in her surroundings, her face soothed back into the image of serenity.

Maki cleared her throat, and the mask immediately shattered. "You," Kirumi said. Her voice was full of accusation and regret, and maybe some other emotion Maki wasn't as familiar with.

She wasn't willing to admit to any amount of confusion or weakness, though, not when the only reason Kirumi was standing there was because Maki had been weak. She just looked at Kirumi coolly, waiting for an explanation.

Whatever Kirumi had been thinking would have to wait. She opened her mouth, but before she could say anything else, her eyes widened. That was all the warning Maki got before she collapsed to the floor once again.

Maki approached her warily, but as far as she could tell, Kirumi really was unconscious. She supposed coming back from the dead would take a lot out of a person.

She stared at her for a long moment. Distantly, she was aware that her feelings were waging war on each other, but she couldn't identify which ones.

Whatever they were, they drove her to pick Kirumi up and carry her to the bed. After a moment's though, Maki grabbed several of her spare ties and used them to tie Kirumi up. Maki may have decided to bring her back, but she knew better than to trust her. Given the chance, the maid would sacrifice everyone in the school for the sake of her people, and she'd do it with no regrets.

Not that Maki was in any position to judge her. She just didn't intend to give her that opportunity.

She settled into her armchair to wait for Kirumi to wake back up. It had been a long day, though, and Kirumi showed no signs of being close to consciousness. Maki's glances at her shortened, while the time she spent blinking increased. Before long, she'd closed her eyes altogether and sunk into a light sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

The sounds of rustling fabric brought Maki back to consciousness instantly. She was standing, mentally cataloguing the weapons she'd stashed around the room, before she'd fully registered where the sounds were coming from.

Kirumi was sitting on the bed, calmly undoing the last of the knots around her ankles. Maki was begrudgingly impressed by how quickly she'd managed to get herself free.

Once she was done, Kirumi looked up at Maki. She smiled. There was no trace of her earlier agitation, her expression instead projecting poise and competence. "Good morning," she said. "I apologize for waking you up. Would you like me to make you breakfast?"

Maki narrowed her eyes. She wasn't going to let Kirumi pretend that nothing had happened. "Do you want to die?" she asked reflexively.

Kirumi stiffened. Her smile remained frozen on her face, but her eyes were wide and full of terror. Maki could have kicked herself. She'd gotten complacent now that everyone knew her talent. She couldn't afford to be this sloppy.

She felt like she should do something to make up for panicking Kirumi like that, but she had no idea how to comfort people. She settled for the next best thing: distraction. "How much do you remember?" she asked.

It was admittedly not the best distraction, but Kirumi seized it eagerly, her terror giving way to focus. "I was about to be executed," she said slowly. "Did something go wrong?"

There was no gentle way to explain it to her, so Maki didn't even try. "You died." The little color in Kirumi's face began to drain. "But our next motive was chance to resurrect someone."

"And you chose me?" Kirumi's hands were folded in her lap to keep them from trembling, but there was a hint of humor to her smile. "I don't want to seem ungrateful, but are you sure that was wise?"

"Well, the original plan was that Angie would bring Rantaro back so we could use him as a sacrifice again if we needed to." Maki shrugged. "But after she was murdered, I ended up with the Necronomicon. I knew it was a trap…"

"And yet here I am." Kirumi locked eyes with Maki, her gaze intense. "And from the sounds of it, no one else knows that I'm alive yet. Are you sure you want to be alone with me?"

Maki snorted. "You can't kill me." Kirumi looked at her skeptically, reminding her that as far as Kirumi knew, Maki was just a child caregiver. She scrambled for an explanation that wouldn't give herself away. Not that it would matter, but the instinct to do so was ingrained in her. "Monokuma would insist that you show up at the trial, and everyone would vote for you on the spot. You would die for nothing."

Kirumi looked like she was about to respond, but before she could, the monitor switched on. They watched in silence as the Monokubs played out a drama clearly ripped from a soap opera. That was enough to kill the conversation.

"I need to meet everyone for breakfast," Maki said once the silence had gotten uncomfortable even by her standards. "If anything suspicious happens while I'm gone, I will make sure everyone knows to blame you."

"I'm well aware of my situation," Kirumi said. "I have no intentions of trying again. Perhaps while you're gone I will tidy up in here."

Maki hardly thought her room needed it, but if the maid wanted to occupy herself by cleaning Maki was content to let her. She grabbed a spare uniform from the closet and set about getting ready for the day.

Breakfast went exactly as she'd expected. There was a lot of yelling, nothing was decided, and everyone went their separate ways again.

She got back to find her room exactly as she'd left it, with one vital exception. Kirumi was gone.

Not that Maki was concerned. Kirumi wasn't an idiot, and as she'd said, she understood her situation. She wouldn't risk doing anything to put herself in danger so soon after dying and being revived. It would be fine.

Maki still spent the next hour alternately worrying about Kirumi and wondering why she even cared. Bringing Kirumi back had been an impulsive decision from the start. Maki had hardly expected her to swear fealty to her for it. Kirumi was her own person, and if she wanted to vanish like this, that was fine.

It was certainly none of Maki's business whether Kirumi was planning to join them for lunch or if she would stay hidden. And if she did choose to stay away, there was no reason for Maki to wonder when she was planning to eat. It didn't matter to her.

She ended up retreating to her lab in an effort to collect her thoughts. Taking care of weapons always cleared her mind, and she could use the reminder of the need to stay focused. She wasn't going to let herself be killed over something this stupid.

It seemed to be working at first. She got into the rhythm of sharpening blades, and everything else faded into the background. Then Shuichi knocked on the door. That he wanted to talk to her wasn't unusual, but seeing him reminded her of their conversation the previous evening, which reminded her of Kirumi, and that thrust her back into the loop.

She shoved the useless thoughts to the back of her mind and focused on what Shuichi had to say. "About last night, he began."

Maki sighed. "There's nothing to say. I asked a useless question, you pointed out that it was dumb, and I dropped it." Shuichi's brow furrowed. "That said," Maki continued. "I didn't mean to offend you."

Shuichi blinked. "Thanks, I guess?" he said. "I actually wanted to apologize myself. I didn't mean to make it sound like your question was stupid, I was just surprised." He hesitated. "I think you're right, liking someone is always weird. But I also think that's just part of the experience? If it wasn't weird, you wouldn't know that you liked them."

Maki stared at him, and he scratched his head self-consciously. "Sorry, I don't know if that made any sense. It's not like I have much experience with this stuff…"

"It didn't," Maki said. She smiled at his stricken expression. "But thank you for trying."

Shuichi laughed nervously. "Any time." He was quiet for a moment before blinking in realization. "Oh! I also have a present for you. Here." He held out a cup of bubble tea, presumably obtained from the same place he got all his mysterious gifts.

Maki accepted it with relief. It was nice to see that she hadn't managed to alienate one of the only tolerable people in this school.

After that, they were on more familiar ground. They talked for a while about their lives before all of this, the parts they could remember and what might have happened in between. Their conversation wound down just in time to go to supper.

That should have been the end of it. Maki had the answer to her question. She went back to her routine, spending the evening in her room except for training with Kaito and Shuichi. She barely even noticed Kirumi's absence. They hadn't really interacted before the fateful trial, and now that Kirumi was back they'd had a single conversation. Her not being around was the natural state of things.

That didn't stop Maki from sneaking out to the dining hall, prepared to claim that she wanted a midnight snack. She didn't get the chance. No one else was up, which was just as well, because she had no excuse for what she did next.

She knocked on Kirumi's door as softly as she could. When there was no response, she pressed her face to the doorframe. "It's me," she said quietly.

The door opened almost immediately. Maki walked in without taking the time to greet Kirumi. They could worry about pleasantries when there wasn't the threat of their classmates spotting them and making a scene.

"Maki?" Kirumi asked. Maki wondered why she sounded so surprised. It wasn't like their classmates had a reason to knock on Kirumi's door. Not that Maki did either, really, but at least she knew that Kirumi was alive.

Rather than dwell on why she'd bothered coming, Maki just said, "I didn't know if you'd eaten yet, so I brought you dinner."

"Oh!" Kirumi smiled. "I'm not used to being the one waited upon. I will have to return the favor."

"It's fine." Maki tucked her hair behind her ear self-consciously. She didn't have anything else to say, so she turned back to the door. "Good night."

"Wait." Maki froze, as surprised by her reaction as by the word itself. She felt far too pleased about being asked to stay, almost like this was what she was hoping for all along. The realization scared her. She couldn't afford to care in a situation like this. The sensible thing to do would be to leave right then, rather than encourage that sort of thinking.

But it would have been rude to walk away from Kirumi like that. She stayed rooted where she was, waiting for an explanation.

Kirumi looked at the floor. "From what you've mentioned, a lot has happened since… since my trial. If you don't mind, I'd like to hear the full story."

Maki could hardly deny a request like that. Kirumi was bound to be discovered eventually, and if she wanted to stand any chance of rejoining the group she would have to know what had happened. If nothing else, she'd need to know why three of them were gone. "Okay," Maki said.

She related the events of the last few days as straightforwardly as she could, with only one exception. She couldn't quite bring herself to reveal her true talent to Kirumi. She was bound to find out eventually, but until then Maki savored having control of her identity, if only to one person. She could almost pretend that her past didn't matter.

When she was done with her explanation, Kirumi nodded thoughtfully. "This is a lot to take in," she said, "and I imagine that you're tired. Thank you for indulging my curiosity."

Maki shrugged. "Sure. If that's all…"

Kirumi thought for a moment. "I believe it is. Good night."

"Good night." This time, when Maki headed for the door, Kirumi didn't stop her.

Maki was used to falling asleep almost instantly, but that night, sleep refused to come. Her mind was buzzing with half-formed thoughts and, even worse, feelings. She was far less annoyed about being kept up to talk about things that had just happened than she would have expected. She could almost say that she had enjoyed herself.

She thought about her conversation with Shuichi, about how liking someone was always weird, and that was how you could recognize it. She wished it had made as little sense as she'd claimed. As it was, she was starting to understand what he meant, and it was terrifying. She could hardly have chosen a worse time or a worse person.

No, she didn't like Kirumi, not really. They didn't know each other nearly well enough for that. Maki was just enjoying having a conversation with someone who wasn't an idiot for once. That was all.

If she repeated it for long enough, maybe she could make it true.


	3. Chapter 3

Kirumi smoothed out her skirt for the fifteenth time that morning. It was just as unnecessary as it had been the first fourteen times. She was simply hoping that the movement would generate the momentum she needed to step out the door.

She had no such luck. She was frozen in place, as she'd been for the last half hour.

It was unseemly, really. She didn't have time for this sort of weakness. Indulging in her own petty fears about what the other students would think was a waste of time. Their opinions were irrelevant as long as she was able to carry out her master's requests. And when that happened, her classmates wouldn't be alive to care.

It was a shame, but she'd made her peace with that fact. All she needed to do now was reintroduce herself to them. The sooner she did so, the sooner she could work on allaying their suspicions. There would be no point in committing a murder if she was immediately found out.

And, though she was ashamed to admit it, she knew that the sight of her classmates was likely to bring back memories of the last trial. It wasn't like this was her first experience with violence. She needed to work on desensitizing herself now, so something as minor as this didn't affect her ability to carry out her duties. The fact that the consequences were more severe this time was irrelevant. She was still standing, and that was what mattered.

Even if it was only through sheer luck. If Monokuma hadn't offered such a convenient motive…

No. She would not let her own mind get the best of her. Indulging in self pity went against everything she stood for as a maid. She would open her bedroom door, walk to the cafeteria, and prepare breakfast for everyone. After all, the necessity of their deaths wasn't their fault. She ought to offer them the same services she'd offer anyone who showed so much potential, for as long as she could.

She should. As soon as she got moving.

She was about to brush off her skirt yet again when she was interrupted by the sound of the monitor coming on. The Monokubs' continued nonsense was distasteful and unnecessary, but the announcement served as a warning that the other students were now awake. It was too late for her to put together a proper meal for the breakfast meeting.

Perhaps that was for the best. Breakfast was always a hectic affair. If she waited until lunch, people would trickle in gradually, and she wouldn't have to deal with everyone's explosive emotions at once. That would also give her a chance to prepare something suitable.

Her mind made up, she tore her eyes from the door. She had some time before breakfast ended and the dining room would be safe to enter, so she might as well do something productive. She'd spent too much time sulking as it was.

Fortunately, the most obvious choice of activity was one that wouldn't require her to leave her room, at least not initially. She could begin planning her next attempt to escape.

Her choice of victim was obvious. She'd underestimated Shuichi before, saw the amount of encouragement he'd needed to accuse Kaede and assumed that meant he wasn't a threat. She wasn't going to make that mistake twice. It was far better to get him out of the way before the investigation began.

The next question was how to avoid suspicion. She didn't want to risk another overly complicated plan to cover her tracks, not now that she'd seen how many risks were involved. She needed something that would give her more control.

The best way, she decided, was to frame one of the other students. She could cover her own tracks while simultaneously discouraging a too thorough investigation.

In a perfect world, she'd be able to pin it on Gonta. He was unlikely to be able to form a compelling counterargument, which would shorten the trial and keep any inconsistencies from being noticed. He was also far too good-natured for anyone to believe that he'd commit murder.

On the other end of the spectrum, Maki kept herself aloof enough that the other students would likely accept her guilt, especially with one of her only supporters dead. But she was too intelligent to leave damning evidence, so framing her would be difficult at best.

She also wasn't as cold as she liked to pretend. She acted distant, but she'd been remarkably thoughtful, particularly since Kirumi's return. Kirumi was beginning to understand what children saw in her.

Kirumi pulled herself back to the topic at hand. She couldn't afford to get distracted now.

Her best choice for a scapegoat was probably Miu, she decided. Miu was neither well-liked nor quick-witted enough to throw off suspicion. She also had enough of a temper to make it plausible both that she would commit a murder and that she would fail to hide the evidence. As long as Kirumi was careful not to overdo it, she should be able to lead the others to a quick verdict.

As for the murder itself, she'd need a way to lure Shuichi someplace secluded. It would also need to be someplace Miu frequented if she was going to make it look like an impulsive act. She'd want to visit the scene in person to arrange everything before the murder itself, but for now, she could begin narrowing her options down from her room.

She grabbed her Monopad and pulled up the map. She'd start with the floors she hadn't gotten a chance to see and work her way down.

The fifth floor wasn't very encouraging. Shuichi's lab's contents might be useful for committing the murder, but would spoil the illusion that it had been a crime of passion. And while Tsumugi's lab might have been useful under more normal circumstances, Kirumi didn't expect to do any mending before escaping the school.

The fourth floor was little better. From what Maki had told her, the floor's general atmosphere was uninviting, and most of the rooms on it had been linked to the previous murder. The only exception was the computer room. It did seem like someplace Miu might spend time, and as such was probably the best option she'd seen so far, but it would be difficult to invite Shuichi there without arousing suspicion.

She scrolled to the third floor, intending to check for new room, only to pause. She'd been fairly sure that the lab at the far end of the floor was Maki's. When she looked at it now, however, it was labeled as the Ultimate Assassin Lab. A quick check showed that the other lab was still the Ultimate Tennis Pro's, a lab she was intimately familiar with…

No, she couldn't allow herself to dwell. She had decided to move on, so she would. She still had requests to carry out.

She exited the map and selected the student report cards, hoping to disprove her suspicions. She had been fairly distracted after the third floor opened up. It was possible her memory was wrong.

But when she selected Maki's report card, her talent was listed as the Ultimate Assassin.

Kirumi swallowed. This was admittedly a surprise, but it was a welcome one. She'd just learned that her only ally had skills that were directly linked to Kirumi's goals. The fact that Maki had hidden those skills was irrelevant. In fact, given the circumstances, it was the most sensible course of action. There was no reason to be open about information that could cause her to become a target in the killing game. Kirumi shouldn't mind in the slightest.

She took a deep breath and considered how best to make use of this information. She couldn't employ Maki's skills directly, given the rules of the game. She doubted hiring Maki to commit a murder would be enough to get herself labeled as the blackened. But Maki would likely have advice for Kirumi, could use her expertise to refine her plans.

Or she could once Kirumi had a plan. For that to happen, she needed to stop allowing herself to become distracted by trivial matters.

She switched the Monopad's display back to the map and redoubled her efforts to find a suitable location to carry out her scheme.

She wasn't sure how long she was absorbed in plotting before she was interrupted by a knock on the door. "It's me," Maki hissed, as if there was anyone else who'd know Kirumi was around to be visited.

Nonetheless, Kirumi appreciated the confirmation. She opened the door and stepped back to allow Maki in.

Like before, Maki was carrying some fruit and a piece of melon bread. Kirumi accepted them gratefully, but she couldn't help but wonder if this was indicative of Maki's eating habits during her absence. If so, it was all the more important that she rejoin the group. She needed to make sure Maki was getting adequate nutrition.

She took a bite of the bread, then noticed Maki was looking around awkwardly. She would probably appreciate something to do while Kirumi ate. "While you're here," Kirumi said, "I have a favor to ask of you."

Maki turned back to Kirumi. "Oh?"

"I've been refining my plans to escape the school," Kirumi said. "Would you be willing to assist me? I'd like a professional's opinion."

Maki stiffened. "What do you mean?" she asked, though her eyes were narrow with suspicion.

Kirumi calmly took another bite of her bread. "As the Ultimate Assassin, I'd imagine you have a good deal of experience disposing of evidence. I understand that this is a large favor, and I wouldn't ask you to provide me with a method of murder, but if you would provide input on my own plans I would be grateful."

Maki's hands hovered at her waist, and a flash of fear ran through Kirumi. Had she miscalculated? There would be no point in killing her after all the trouble Maki had gone to to bring her back, but she wasn't naïve enough to believe that was the worst that could happen. "Are you really going to try again?" Maki asked. "After what happened to you last time?"

Kirumi set the bread down, suddenly unsure she could stomach the food. "I believe I made it clear that I had no other choice. As a maid, I would do anything to fulfill my masters' orders, particularly ones that will benefit so many people."

"And you're willing to sacrifice all of us for these people you've never even met?" The disbelief and anger in Maki's expression was so clear, Kirumi almost imagined she could see shadows forming around the assassin's eyes. "Did it never occur to you that we might have people relying on us too?"

"Unless you have an entire country's wishes on your shoulders, it seems selfish to compare our situations." Kirumi forced herself to make eye contact. She knew she was in the right, and she just wanted to make Maki see that. It wasn't like she enjoyed having to commit murder. But for the sake of her citizens, for the masters who'd made the request of her, she had no other choice. Surely Maki would understand. "You are an assassin, aren't you? You should be familiar with the need to trade some lives for others."

"Do you want to die?" Maki finally drew her knife and leaned toward Kirumi, bringing the blade inches from her face.

Kirumi barely saw it. Her own voice kept ringing in her ears, "I will not die!" as she fled the trial grounds, not knowing she was playing into Monokuma's hands. It had to have been worth it. She would do better this time. She would not fail, not again, she couldn't bear it again.

She was dimly aware that Maki was waiting for an answer, but if she opened her mouth, she couldn't be sure anything would come out but a scream. That was the last thing either of them needed right now. She was putting on a shameful enough display as it was.

By the time she got herself under control, Maki had left, leaving only the half-eaten meal as proof that she'd been there at all. Kirumi closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Selfless devotion," she whispered into the empty room.

Then she picked up the rest of her bread and forced herself to eat. If she was going to do this alone, she would need to keep her strength up. She would carry out this request, whether or not Maki approved.

She was a maid, and this was her duty. That was all there was to it.


	4. Chapter 4

Kirumi sat on her bed, listening for the sounds of the other students returning to their rooms. She'd held off on rejoining the group the previous evening out of respect for Maki's anger, but she couldn't delay her return any long. Waiting would only serve to make them more suspicious of her.

Besides, she was growing tired of staying in her room all day. It would be nice to have someone to serve again, however temporary the arrangement was.

She could acknowledge that she was nervous. She shoved the feeling down and ignored it immediately after acknowledging it, but she felt justified in a certain amount of anxiety. She didn't know how her classmates would react to her resurrection. She wasn't entirely sure how she herself would handle seeing her classmates again. It was their fault she had died in the first place.

Her nerves faded as time continued to pass with no sign of anyone's return. Even her patience could wear thin, and she couldn't imagine what was keeping them. There couldn't be anything that fascinating that would come up during breakfast.

Surely if Maki wanted to betray her, she would have done it already.

There was no reason for her to be upset by the thought. Maki had made it clear that this was where their partnership ended, and Kirumi could accept that. They'd both known from that first night that this fragile peace wouldn't survive the academy.

She stood up and, before she could second guess herself, walked out the door. She'd deal with her classmates as she encountered them. If that meant surprising them all in the cafeteria as they debated some new motive, so be it. At least it would be over with.

But the school seemed to be deserted. She made it through the cafeteria and into the kitchen without seeing anyone.

By then she'd come up with dozens of possible explanations for the quiet. She did her best to consider it rationally. While Monokuma could be inflicting some horrific punishment on everyone, for instance, she doubted she'd have escaped his wrath if that were the case. It was more likely that they were just spread out. From what Maki had said, there were only ten students left to fill six floors of the academy.

She shook her head. No matter what was keeping the others, there wasn't anything Kirumi could do about it, and sticking to the plan would hopefully make this slightly less awkward for everyone. She set to work preparing lunch.

She managed to lose herself in the familiar process for a while. Nothing seemed to have been moved in her absence, which said worrying things about everyone's diets but made her life easier.

She was beginning to feel almost herself again when the monitor in the corner switched on. Monokuma's face filled the screen, and Kirumi tensed. She could feel the urge to scream building in the back of her throat. Distantly, she was aware that her reaction was overblown and unbecoming, but she couldn't convince her muscles to unclench.

She was so caught up in trying to regain control that she didn't realize what his appearance meant. "A body has been discovered!" he announced, in his typical sing-songy fashion, and Kirumi had to force herself to keep breathing. "Everyone, please gather in the computer room!"

Her Monopad was in her hand in an instant, her fingers flying to the map to figure out where she needed to go. Judging by their portraits, the rest of the class was already there, but she couldn't worry about that now. Everything was going wrong. She hadn't accounted for another murder, now all her plans were ruined and she had to figure out what was happening or she might die again and there would be nothing she could do.

She took off down the hallway. Running only brought up more unwelcome memories, but she didn't have time for that, so she ignored them and kept going. She focused on her breathing, on the glimpses she caught of the new floors as she raced past, on anything but the situation she was in.

She rounded the corner to approach the computer room, and the shock of the scene in front of her jarred her out of her thoughts. She'd been expecting a room full of desks and comfortable chairs. The reality was more reminiscent of a science fiction movie. There were chairs, at least, but everyone in them wore bulky goggles that connected them to the massive machine in the center of the room.

It was so much to take in that she almost missed the body. Kokichi sat in a chair like the others, but his visor had been removed, revealing an expression of terror. His arms stretched in front of him in an aborted attempt to push someone away. Kirumi couldn't quite suppress a shudder.

This was a stroke of luck, though. Kokichi was too much of a wild card to include in her plans. His dying here would give her a much greater chance of success. As for him, however he'd died was probably kinder than what Monokuma would do to the rest of the class when she graduated. Even if his expression was going to haunt her.

"Kirumi?"

Kirumi reflexively pulled herself into her most professional posture. Her mind caught up a moment later and told her that it was Gonta who had spoken, that he was standing by the door with a worried expression. "Gonta thought Kirumi was dead," he said slowly.

"I was," Kirumi said. She was proud of how little her voice wavered. "And if we don't solve this murder, I might be again. Could you explain the situation to me?"

Gonta looked pained. "Gonta would, but… how Gonta know Kirumi isn't the killer? Kirumi killed Ryoma."

It was a reasonable point, but Kirumi still found it frustrating that she'd have to deal with suspicion before even killing anyone. It would be much harder to defend herself when she didn't know what she was being accused of. "I admit I don't have an alibi," she said. "However, it looks like everyone's been here for a while. I wouldn't have had a chance to kill him if you were all here."

Gonta's brow furrowed further. "Maybe… But everyone was asleep for murder. Kirumi could have snuck in then."

Asleep? Was that the purpose of that machine? That seemed far too simple. She didn't expect Gonta to understand the finer points of the technology, though, so she simply nodded. "Perhaps I could have. Nonetheless, I'm afraid you'll have to trust me. Everyone else is asleep, and we're the only ones who can investigate. If we keep arguing, neither of us will be prepared for the trial." She swallowed, not looking forward to returning to the trial grounds. "I propose a compromise. I'll investigate, with you watching to make sure I don't tamper with the evidence. Then you can vouch for me during the trial."

"Gonta suppose that will work." He sighed. "Gonta wish the others were awake. They'd tell Gonta the right thing to do."

"Why are they asleep?" she asked. "You said they were asleep for the murder, but for the announcement to be made, someone had to be awake to see the body."

"Gonta doesn't know! Miu said that she had a way to end the killings, but when Gonta put the helmet on like she said, Gonta just fell asleep. When Gonta wake up, Kokichi was dead." Gonta looked at the floor, tears in his eyes. "Then everyone went to sleep instead of investigating. Gonta doesn't know what to do."

That confirmed Kirumi's suspicions that the machine wasn't just for going to sleep, at least. The question was what that meant for the murder.

She opened her mouth to ask another question, only to be cut off when someone screamed in the hallway. "G-GHOST!"

Kirumi hadn't noticed that Kaito hadn't been with the others. It made sense, though, with how her day was going. Now she'd have to deal with whatever nonsense he was yelling about instead of starting her investigation. "I'm not a ghost," she said, as calmly as she could manage. "I'll explain later. Right now, we have more pressing matters to attend to."

"Because you being a zombie isn't pressing?" Kaito had stopped yelling, at least, but his voice was still high-pitched and thin.

"My presence isn't going to kill you. Monokuma will if we don't solve this murder."

"That isn't even remotely reassuring!" Kaito shook his head. "But you have a point. You should start investigating, and I'll supervise from over here."

Kirumi decided that was probably best for both of them. She didn't need him getting in the way of her investigation. She did have some questions, though. "Before that, could you explain why everyone is wearing those visors?"

Thankfully, Kaito's explanation was more coherent than Gonta's. It also raised more questions. Neither Kaito nor Gonta had any idea of what had happened in the Virtual World at the time of the murder, and everyone who did was still inside for whatever reason.

She could wait for them to log out, but she thought there was an easier way. At the very least, it wouldn't require her spending quite so much time explaining why she was alive. She cleared her throat. "Are the Monokubs available?" she asked.

"Rise and shine, ursine!" The bears in question appeared immediately. Their obnoxious theme music blared, just the way it had the last time she'd consulted them, before things had gone so catastrophically wrong.

She shoved that thought to the side to join all the others. She could have this impending breakdown later. "I need to know more about the Virtual World," she said. "Could you go through the files on this machine for me?"

"Wait, who are you?" Monotaro asked. "I don't remember anyone like you in the Killing Game."

"That's because she died a while back," Monophanie said. "But why are you here now?"

Kirumi narrowly resisted the urge to strangle her. "I just need some information."

"I don't know…" Monophanie said. "We aren't supposed to interfere in the trials."

"You developed the film for Kaede's trial, right? This is similar," Kirumi reasoned. "While I imagine I could gather the information myself, it would be long and time-consuming. Having you do it saves time and eliminates accusations of bias."

"I can try," Monophanie said slowly. "But I don't know very much about computers, so don't expect much."

"I believe in you!" Monotaro said.

Kirumi walked away before they could get caught up in another meaningless spectacle.

Kaito whistled from where he'd positioned himself in the doorway. "Wow, the Monokubs are actually contributing for once. I'm impressed."

Kirumi took advantage of the brief calm and finally walked over to Kokichi's body. His expression wasn't any less disturbing up close, and she found herself averting her eyes. She didn't think his face held any clues to the crime anyway. She was content to examine the area immediately surrounding his body.

Despite his posture, there were no signs of a struggle. Perhaps he'd been reacting to something in the Virtual World at the time of his death.

She took a step back and noticed a bottle of poison lying at his feet. Was it possible that his apparent terror and his actual cause of death were unrelated? She'd want to look at it in more detail later.

"Here," she said, handing it off to Gonta. "Take care of this until the trial. That way, no one can claim that I tampered with it."

"Okay!"

She made her way methodically around the rest of the room, but found little else of interest. She'd just finished when Monophanie popped up behind her. "It's not a lot, but I think I found something," she said. "It's a text file describing the rules of the Virtual World." She held up a sheet of paper. "I hope that's enough…"

"Thank you," Kirumi said. If nothing else, it would help her fill in the gaps left by Gonta and Kaito's haphazard descriptions.

She'd just started to read through it when the people in the chairs began to move. Kirumi took a deep breath and straightened her posture, trying to look as dignified as possible. This was promptly rendered irrelevant, as the first person to take off her visor was Miu, who could suck the dignity out of any situation. "What the shit? I thought you were in the dirt, where submissive bitches like you belong."

Kirumi was spared having to come up with a response by Tsumugi, who was the next to wake up. She screamed when she saw Kirumi. "Is this a zombie?"

Kirumi waited as the others awoke in turn and contributed to the confusion. They all felt the need to say something, no matter how unhelpful or repetitive. Only Maki was silent. Her glare was intense enough to make Kirumi look away.

Eventually the noise died down, and Kirumi spoke. "Hello again, everyone. I'm sorry that we had to meet like this. I'm sure you all have questions, but right now, I don't think my existence is our biggest concern."

Shuichi shook his head. "Maybe not, but the fact that no one knew you were alive until the murder makes you a suspect. If you could tell us more about how you're here, it could help us trust you."

His words were direct and focused on the case at hand, but the hope shining in his eyes was obvious. He wanted to know if any of the others would be coming back too. Kirumi almost felt bad for him.

She wouldn't be able to help him, though, and it would be irrelevant soon enough. "I'd be happy to tell you later," she said.

Himiko frowned. "That doesn't make you sound less suspicious."

Shuichi looked like he was about to say something else, but he was cut off by the monitor switching on. "I can't help but notice that you've all gotten sidetracked," Monokuma said. "I guess this case was so simple, you already know who the blackened is. So let's get right down to it and start the trial! I want to see what a class trial speedrun looks like."

"What?" Shuichi looked stricken. "We barely got a chance to investigate!"

"It can't be helped," Maki said. "We'll just have to figure it out at the trial." She walked away, coming so close to Kirumi that she had to take a step back. She still refused to meet her eyes.

"I guess…" Shuichi didn't sound particularly confident. Still, he hadn't needed confidence to ruin Kirumi's plot last time, and this seemed to be a much simpler situation. Kirumi imagined that having knowledge of what had happened in the Virtual World would be enough to solve it.

"Let's go," she said. "We all want answers, and the trial is the best place to find them."

She was careful to maintain a steady pace as she made her way to the Shrine. The thought of returning to the trial grounds made her want to run, but that hadn't worked out for her last time. There was no sense in throwing away her last shred of dignity over this. She imagined she'd have enough trouble maintaining it during the trial itself.

Maki was careful to position herself in the opposite corner of the elevator. Kirumi wasn't sure why she noticed, other than her desire to think about anything but what was about to happen.

She wasn't remotely ready for this.


	5. Chapter 5

Even ignoring the circumstances, Maki was less than thrilled about having to spend her afternoon stuck in a room with Kirumi. She'd have been content never to see the maid again. At the very least, she would have liked enough time to get past her stupid feelings of betrayal and move on to perfectly understandable fury.

But she liked the idea of dying even less, so here she was, back at the trial grounds with everyone else.

They'd barely taken their places at the stands when Miu spoke. "So it's pretty clear who did it, right? Killer-mi already offed Ryoma, and now she shows up out of nowhere right after we find another corpse. You don't need to be Snorelock Holmes here to figure it out."

Saihara made a face, but Kirumi was the one to respond. "I understand why you would suspect, and I apologize," she said. She shook her head. "However, this is no time to jump to conclusions. There is too much at stake for us all."

Maki snorted. As always, Kirumi used meaningless pretty words to avoid dealing with reality. She hadn't even mentioned what she was apologizing for. Not that that was an accident, since Maki knew full well that Kirumi wasn't sorry.

But Maki had also been trained to pick up on weakness, and while she tried to ignore it, the assassin in her was going crazy. She couldn't help but see the way Kirumi's eyes kept darting around the trial grounds. Her hands were clasped behind her back in what Maki suspected was an attempt to keep them from shaking. Even Kirumi's wording wasn't quite as pointedly charming as usual.

It wasn't much. Even taken all together, it would be easy to dismiss, to attribute to the chaos of any class trial. But Maki couldn't forget the way Kirumi had looked that first night back, feral and shaking. Her control had improved, but something about Kirumi's stance was the same. Maki was willing to bet that Kirumi was panicking.

And loath as Maki was to admit it, that meant she probably wasn't the blackened. Maki couldn't imagine Kirumi committing a murder before she was sure she had perfect control over herself.

The trial forged on, heedless of Maki's unwanted revelations. "I don't know," Shuichi was saying. "It's true that we need to be careful, but you haven't given us any reason to trust you. You have to admit that your timing is suspicious."

"We thought you were dead. We saw your execution." Kiibo pointed dramatically. "Surviving that would take help. How do we know you're not working with the mastermind?"

"Or a ghost?" Kaito added.

Kirumi took a deep breath. "I can't provide a complete explanation, because I don't know everything myself. From what I understand, Monokuma offered the ability to resurrect someone as the last motive. The use of that allowed me to return."

"But why you?" Himiko asked. "You're a murderer!"

Kirumi pursed her lips. "I couldn't say," she said slowly. "I had a theory, but it was recently proven wrong."

That was one way to put it. A self-serving and skewed way, but that was hardly surprising, given the speaker.

"Why not ask?" Gonta suggested. "Whoever brought Kirumi back could explain."

There was a pause as everyone conspicuously avoided eye contact with everyone else. "I won't force them to reveal themselves," Kirumi said. "If they want to identify themselves, they can, but I won't do be the one to do it. They've done too much for me."

Maki resisted the urge to laugh. It was all very well for Kirumi to act noble, but Maki knew full well how Kirumi intended to repay her. She was probably just trying to distance herself from the other known killer in the room.

That was fine with Maki. She wasn't racing to associate herself with Kirumi either.

"That really doesn't help your case," Shuichi said. "If we don't know who's supporting you, the mastermind is a likely suspect."

"Or maybe you're just being paranoid." Kaito waved an arm dismissively. "You don't have to be so suspicious of everyone all the time. I think Kirumi's loyalty is a good thing. She can't be all bad if she cares for one of us, right? I'm inclined to trust her."

"That's because you're an idiot," Maki said. "She already lied to us once. Why would we believe her now?"

"But Maki," Tsumugi said. "Kaito's the one who convinced us to trust you after you lied about your talent, and this seems pretty similar. Shouldn't you put your faith in him now?"

"No." Maki crossed her arms. "His stupidity is his own problem. The fact is, Kirumi can't be trusted."

Tsumugi frowned. "Even so…"

Kaito cut her off. "Nah, it's fine. We'll just have to prove to her that things will work out. Right, Kirumi?"

"Indeed." Kirumi nodded, though her expression seemed less than convinced. "To that end, let us focus on the facts of the case."

"In that case, we should start with the obvious question," Shuichi said. "What was the murder weapon?"

"I did find something on the floor by Kokichi's feet," Kirumi said. "I don't know for sure, but given the circumstances, it seems reasonable to assume that it's poison. Gonta, if you would?"

Gonta fished a vial of blue liquid from his pocket. "Gonta has kept it safe!"

"As you can see, Gonta's been holding onto it this whole time, so there's been no chance for me to tamper with it."

"Couldn't you have handed him a random bottle?" Himiko asked. "We don't know that it's poison."

"No, I recognize the bottle," Shuichi said. He looked uncomfortable. "It's from my research lab."

Maki frowned. While she hadn't gotten a good look at all the poisons in his lab, she didn't think there was anything particularly out of the ordinary. And if that were the case, it seemed unlikely that an untrained killer just happened to choose a poison that was both quick-acting and left no traces on the victim's body while inflicting enough pain to give Kokichi's corpse such a miserable expression. She couldn't even think of one.

Admittedly, the mastermind didn't seem to care about what was possible, so maybe they had left such a poison in the lab. It didn't seem likely, though.

Tsumugi looked like she was about to chime in with something useless and probably based in fiction, and Maki made up her mind. She didn't want to have to sit through more pointless debate. If they hit a dead end later, she could make up something else, but right now she was going to move the conversation forward. "Let me see that bottle," she said.

Gonta passed the vial to Shuichi, who hesitated before passing it to Tsumugi. Maki tried not to look too impatient as she waited for it to make its way to her.

She finally accepted it from Miu, uncorked it, and brought it to her nose. "I thought so," she said. "I recognize this poison. It's real, but it takes at least a day to kill, and the victim is in agony the whole time. If this was what killed Kokichi, we would have noticed something wrong before going into the Virtual World."

"Well, he was an obnoxious little shit," Miu said. "Maybe he was hiding it from us as part of some lame-ass prank."

"I don't think you understood me." Maki gave Miu a level stare. "Do you need a demonstration? I'd be happy to give the rest of this to you and let you see what I mean by agony."

Miu looked away, fiddling with a lock of her hair. "Geeze, you've made your point…" Her attempt to sound stand-offish was thwarted by the terrified expression on her face.

Maki hid a smile. There was something satisfying about being able to direct the flow of a trial so easily. No wonder Shuichi kept lying.

"There is another possibility," Kirumi said. "If we can't find a weapon in the real world, it is possible that there was one in the Virtual World."

"What?" Kiibo asked. "What would that even mean?"

"The culprit could have killed Kokichi in the Virtual World. According to a file on the server, dying in the simulation would deliver enough of a shock to someone's brain to actually kill them."

"It did feel really real…" Tsumugi said.

"And where exactly did you find this file?" Miu demanded. "You can't just make shit up and expect us to believe it just because your poison was real."

"I'm afraid you'd have to ask Monophanie. I asked her to look at the computer while I performed my investigation." Kirumi risked bringing her hands out in front of her long enough to gesture to the Monokubs. Maki was unsurprised to see the way they trembled before Kirumi hid them behind herself again.

Monophanie looked surprised to be dragged into the proceedings. "Well, it was only fair," she said. "Any of them could have done it, but this way they all know."

"You interfered in the investigation? How cute!" Monokuma unsheated his claws. "Even when you're breaking the rules, I just want to hug you into little bitty pieces!"

"Wait, is that a threat or not?" Monotaro asked.

"Anyway," Kaito said. "The Monokubs may be useless, but we can probably assume they aren't lying to us. And that means we can trust Kirumi!"

"This time," Maki said.

"Is it true, Miu?" Kiibo sounded pained by the idea. Maki imagined he was the only one who would care if suspicion fell on Miu.

"Well, maybe I forgot to mention it." Miu crossed her arms defensively. "It was already part of the program, and I couldn't get rid of it. But so what? I'd already erased all the weapons, so it didn't matter."

"You say that, but…" Kiibo fidgeted nervously. "I heard you tell Kokichi that you wanted to meet with him in the Virtual World. And if dying there kills you for real, that means you're a suspect."

Miu made some token protests to the effect that it couldn't be her, there was no way, and that Kirumi was way more suspicious. She managed to raise plausible points about how she couldn't have met with Kokichi with the bridge gone. She insulted everyone even more than she usually did.

None of it mattered. Though there were still a number of questions as to how she'd managed it, Miu was the only one who really understood how the Virtual World worked, and in the end she was the only one who could have committed the murder.

They voted. Miu got eight votes, with Kirumi taking the remaining one. "Finally! That wasn't a speedrun at all!" Monokuma said. "But you're right yet again."

"What?" The verdict was inevitable, and yet Miu still looked shocked. "No, this can't be right. I'm the gorgeous girl genius who's going to revolutionize life as we know it. I can't die here! The world needs me!"

"May I remind you how well that line of argument worked for me," Kirumi said.

"B-but, it's not like I even did anything that bad. I mean, it was only Kokichi! We all know he would have killed someone if I hadn't gotten to him first." Miu looked around wildly, desperate for support.

"You tried to kill us all! If it hadn't been for Kirumi, who you didn't know was alive, we wouldn't have been able to find the weapon." Shuichi looked like he was trying to keep his composure and failing miserably.

"Gonta is sorry he couldn't protect Miu." Gonta looked at the floor. "If Gonta were stronger, maybe Miu would have felt safe and not needed to kill Kokichi."

"I don't understand," Kiibo said. He looked lost. "You didn't have to kill him, did you? There had to be another way."

"I… that's…" Miu sputtered. "What else could I do? I wasn't going to let a chance like the Virtual World go to waste." She froze, realizing that she'd ruined her own claim to altruism, but it was too late.

Kiibo looked at the floor. "I see."

"Okay, that's more than enough of that," Monokuma said. "None of you even liked her anyway. You might as well let her excite you one last time, right? Because I've prepared a special punishment for the Ultimate Inventor, Miu Iruma!"

"No, wait!" Miu fell to her knees. "I'll do anything you want! Just please, don't do this to me!"

"Let's give it everything we've got! It's… PUNISHMENT TIME!"

Maki watched impassively as the chains appeared and wrapped themselves around the still-kneeling Miu. Miu tugged at the shackle around her neck, but couldn't avoid being dragged to the elevator.

The monitor in the court room flickered on a moment later. On it was a massive stadium, the stands lined with Monokumas. One half of the stadium ground was covered in steel gray tables, barely visible under piles of tools and scraps of machinery. The other half of the stadium was bare.

It wasn't long before Miu was dumped in the center. She squinted as she got to her feet, eyes adjusting to the glare of the stadium lights. The Monokumas leered down at her. She opened her mouth to yell something vulgar.

What exactly that was remained a mystery, as the video cut to the stadium wall. A pair of doors swung open to reveal a giant robot shaped like a blockier Miu. It peered out over the sea of Monokumas.

The robot's arms shot forward, plucking the two remaining Monokubs out of the stands. It regarded them for a moment. Then it slammed them together, crushing them flat. The robot shoved the scraps into its cleavage before striking a pose.

"Classy," Maki thought. The Monokumas began to cheer.

The camera cut back to the real Miu, whose eyes were very wide. She swallowed thickly. Maki chose to believe it was fear Miu was feeling.

Miu ran to the nearest table and began rummaging frantically through the parts. The robot took a step towards her, causing the ground to shake, and she flinched.

Another step sent another shockwave through the ground. Miu abandoned the table she was at to put more distance between herself and the robot. She didn't have more luck at the next table, though, and quickly abandoned it too.

The robot continued its implacable advance.

Finally Miu was backed against the stadium wall. There were no more parts to use, no machines to build, no last chances. She hugged herself and said something Maki couldn't quite make out. For once, though, it didn't seem to be profane.

The robot raised its foot and unceremoniously squashed her.

The crowd went wild. The robot looked around, taking in its adoring fans, and put its hands on its hips. It threw its head back in a laugh the way Miu so often had.

And then the screen went black.

Maki stretched her shoulders. She was surprised by how innocuous that had been. She would have expected the mastermind to come up with something more outrageously graphic for Miu.

She turned back to the courtroom, where thankfully the others were already coming out of their horrified dazes. Monokuma was saying something, possibly a bad pun, but Maki tuned him out in favor of watching the others' reactions.

There was the usual look of shock on Shuichi's face, but it was almost muted. He was growing accustomed to these atrocities, no matter how little he liked it.

Kaito's eyes were glazed over, and his expression suggested it was only force of will keeping him from being sick. Maki wasn't sure why he was so affected. Then again, he had always been too unguarded. Maybe he'd somehow convinced himself that they were all still good people.

Gonta was, as always, crying. Even Maki felt a little bad for him. He should have realized by now that trying to take responsibility for others would only lead to suffering. He couldn't protect people who refused to be protected.

Tsumugi just looked numb, and Himiko had her hat pulled down over her face. Kiibo had all but shut down.

Maki looked to Kirumi last. Not that she was afraid to see her reaction, worried that this would finally shatter Kirumi's already fractured composure. Maki just didn't care.

All things considered, Kirumi looked better than Maki would have expected. She was breathing deeply, but evenly, her hands clenched in front of her. Her lips seemed to be moving, though Maki couldn't make out the words. It didn't matter. She'd have been willing to bet they were some sort of mantra, something meaningless about fortitude or devotion or something.

Kiibo was the first one to break the silence. "I never would have suspected… I know Miu could be loud and unpleasant, but she wasn't really a bad person. So why… What drove her to this?"

No one said anything. Maki imagined they didn't want to be the ones to disillusion him. If he wanted to remember Miu as better than she was, that was his problem. "Come on," she said instead. "There's no point in staying down here."

The class shuffled onto the elevator in silence.

The ride back up to the school was equally quiet. Maki had expected Kaito to say something about training, but as soon as the elevator came to a stop he rushed off without a word. She gave the mental equivalent of a shrug. Maybe it was finally sinking in that exercise wasn't enough to save anyone.

She was about to return to her room when Kirumi pulled her to the side. Maki tensed, but allowed herself to be moved. It was worth hearing Kirumi out, if only to know what to expect for the future. She wasn't expecting anything good.

"Thank you," Kirumi said. "I understand why you don't trust me, but you still supported my arguments, and I appreciate that." She looked up at the sky. "I – I will confess, I don't know that I was in a state to adequately defend myself."

Maki shrugged. The motion reminded them both that Kirumi's hand was still on Maki's arm, and she pulled back abruptly. Maki determinedly didn't care. She still wanted to get as far from Kirumi as possible, still wasn't going to risk being burned yet again. The lingering doubt in Kirumi's eyes didn't change anything.

"It was pretty clear you weren't the culprit," Maki said. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "I was just making sure we didn't get ourselves killed."

"Even so," Kirumi said. "Thank you."

"Whatever," Maki said. "I think I've made it clear that I don't trust you, so if that's all, I'm going to go."

Kirumi nodded. "Of course." Her hands brushed the bottom of her skirt as if she wanted to fidget with it, but then stilled. "Good night."

"Night," Maki said without thinking. She walked away before Kirumi could get the wrong impression.

After all, Maki still resented Kirumi. Kirumi was selfish, putting herself ahead of everyone else and refusing to show any remorse for putting their lives at stake.

Not that Maki was exactly innocent herself. But then, she'd never tried to get close to a would-be victim, never acted like it was all a misunderstanding. She understood what she'd done, and the consequences of her actions. Kirumi either didn't understand or didn't care.

At least now she would have to rejoin the group. There was no way she'd be able to maintain her penitent façade for long, not now that they knew who she really was. Sooner or later, she was going to snap.

Maybe then Maki could finally convince her stubborn, idiot heart that Kirumi wasn't worth it.


End file.
